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Call acoustics reflect body size across four clades of anurans
Author(s) -
Gingras B.,
Boeckle M.,
Herbst C. T.,
Fitch W. T.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of zoology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.915
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1469-7998
pISSN - 0952-8369
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-7998.2012.00973.x
Subject(s) - biology , allometry , clade , generalizability theory , zoology , evolutionary biology , bioacoustics , trait , ecology , statistics , phylogenetics , acoustics , mathematics , gene , physics , genetics , computer science , programming language
An inverse relationship between body size and advertisement call frequency has been found in several frog species. However, the generalizability of this relationship across different clades and across a large distribution of species remains underexplored. We investigated this relationship in a large sample of 136 species belonging to four clades of anurans ( B ufo , H ylinae, L eptodactylus and R ana ) using semi‐automatic, high‐throughput analysis software. We employed two measures of call frequency: fundamental frequency ( F 0) and dominant frequency ( DF ). The slope of the relationship between male snout‐vent length ( SVL ) and frequency did not differ significantly among the four clades. However, R ana call at a significantly lower frequency relative to size than the other clades, and B ufo call at a significantly higher frequency relative to size than L eptodactylus . Because the relationship between F 0 and body size may be more straightforwardly explained by biomechanical constraints, we confirmed that a similar inverse relationship was observed between F 0 and SVL . Finally, spectral flatness, an indicator of the tonality of the vocalizations, was found to be inversely correlated with SVL , contradicting an oft‐cited prediction that larger animals should have rougher voices. Our results confirm a tight and widespread link between body size and call frequency in anurans, and suggest that laryngeal allometry and vocal fold dimensions in particular are responsible.